How your everyday tote bag could be causing back and shoulder pain

Everyday life can feel like a war, and we all like to be prepared. So we carry our worlds on our shoulders: an extra charger, that one diary we might need, a water bottle, a snack, a book. But the irony is cruel, the one day you take something out is exactly when you’ll need it. However being prepared comes at a cost, which suddenly comes back to bite us in our spines. Habitual one-shoulder carrying and overfilling a bag don’t usually announce themselves with a single dramatic injury. Instead they nudge your posture, alter the way you walk, and over weeks and months build the kind of low-grade damage that shows up as the daily pain you have learned to tolerate. The human body thrives on balance. When weight is repeatedly placed on one side, muscles and joints slowly adapt to that as